Sword Apocalypse Online
by shanejayell
Summary: What if the first attempt to escape the first floor failed? Heroes die, survivors carry on and attempt to clear the game. Will feature characters from various SAO series and will not follow canon.
1. Chapter 1

Sword Apocalypse Online

Prelude

It only took a small thing to change everything.

They were nearly there in defeating the first level boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord, when the final weapon he drew was unexpectedly changed from the Beta Test. Instead of the weapon they were used to, a simple curved blade, he drew a much more dangerous katana. Kirito, realizing a shouted warning wouldn't work, rushed forward to try to tell the front line fighters.

It was a fatal mistake.

The first swing killed Diablo, the expedition's leader, Kirito and stunned most of the 'tank' squad that was absorbing damage. The second swing, as the rest scurried about in panic, killed them. Kibaou, who should have taken command at that point, had frozen. Then it didn't matter after he fell in the third attack.

Agil, one of the leaders of a tank squad, got his people in position to block damage, while Asuna stepped up to lead the retreat. She had discarded her cloak, and maybe the surprise of seeing a woman there made the others obey. Or maybe it was the tears on her face. But somehow they pulled back, got the tanks clear and escaped out the doors back into the dungeon itself.

Still trapped on the first floor of Aincrad.

Hope of eventual escape extinguished.

The heroic knight they hoped to lead them out, gone.

As the prepared to fight their way back out of the Dungeon back to the Town of Beginnings they all wondered 'What do we do now?'

To be continued...

Notes: Basically what if things went to shit right from the start. My initial idea was that Kirito would shove Asuna aside and take a death blow for her, but the mechanics of the battle as shown in the anime didn't really work.

I have no actual issues with Kirito, other than him being the story focus. Taking him out means I can dwell on other bits, though if it helps I have a character in mind to replace him in 'beta test knowledge' who will be a regular cast member. More on that in chapter two...


	2. Chapter 2

Sword Apocalypse Online

Chapter One

Three months later...

Asuna Yuuki hadn't wanted to be a survivor, nor had she wanted to have people relying on her. Both things just kind of HAPPENED. And now she was just doing her best to carry on...

"Nothing weird going on, Boss," Argo the Rat reported as they finally made it through the gate at Tolbana, the town nearest the Labrynth Tower.

"Don't call me Boss," Asuna sighed as the three women advanced.

"Sure thing, Boss," the other young woman teased.

"Yuk it up, Liz," Asuna said dryly.

Argo the Rat kept a wary eye out even though they were in a town's 'safe zone.' Understandable, as folks had tried to kill her not all that long ago.

In the aftermath of the failed boss fight, several players blamed Argo and her guide books for things going wrong. The angriest group of people even got together and tried to hunt her down outside of town. Thankfully Asuna and Agil had also head about it, and the group wasn't willing to kill them, too. And they knew that Agil would probably take a few of them with him.

(In this Asuna was unaware of her own growing reputation in the players of SAO. Her leading the retreat was already becoming well known, as well as the speed and power of her attacks. 'Meteor' and 'lightning' were both names that were being applied to her by fans. It was entirely possible the gang was as scared of her...)

Agil also pointed out that if anyone was at fault, it was the players. They knew Kayaba had deliberately trapped them in this death game, so why would they assume he'd just leave things like they were in the beta test? It would have been stupid of him to give a huge advantage to the testers. So of COURSE he'd screwed around with them.

The other player survivors accepted that, reluctantly. Or they were just too scared of Asuna and Agil beating them up to act. Either way they dispersed, but after that Argo stuck to Asuna like glue...

"We should probably check into a inn, then re-supply," Liz noted as they moved through the crowded streets. The three women stayed close together, both to cut through the crowds as well as for mutual protection.

Another side effect of the failed boss fight was the rapid decay of the general social order. Things were already starting to go before, of course, with player killing becoming a thing as well as a growing knowledge that the only 'rules' they faced where the built in game ones. But after a group of the top players of SAO failed to beat the boss and break out of the first floor, a lot of folks fell into simple despair.

"Thank goodness we're not in the Town of Beginnings. It's becoming a total dive," Liz added.

"Hey, we found YOU there," Argo teased.

Lizbeth was working as a blacksmith in the Town of Beginnings, but was having trouble building a market. She was also looking for players to build experience with, so when Asuna hired her to maintenance her weapons, she asked to go along with them. And they did need a tank, anyway.

Somewhat more seriously Argo added, "Well, we are better off staying out of there. I heard there are even brothels opening up."

Asuna blinked. "How..." she started.

"Someone figured out how to turn the Morality System off. It's buried fairly deep in the options menu," Argo noted. She sighed, "And I suppose it's safer than fighting."

"Ewww," Asuna said flatly as the group walked into one of the Inns. Despite how packed the town was, the Inns usually had rooms available. Or, if you liked, you could rent rooms from NPCs. Liz stepped up to book a room as they waited.

"One room?" the innkeeper asked.

"Ooooh," a passing player noted.

"Don't get any ideas, buddy," Asuna scowled at him as Liz paid for their room.

"Besides, we're her harem," Argo purred as she took Asuna's arm.

"Yup," Liz agreed as she grabbed the other arm.

"Ack," the man hurried off.

"Hey!" Asuna yelped as she pulled free. "You two are going to totally ruin my reputation," she added as they went to their room.

"WHAT reputation?" Argo teased.

"Yuk it up...," Asuna sighed.

The three headed out into the town first. There were a lot of folks sheltering in the safety of the town, hanging out in the streets and so on. Players were understandably cautious about going out and adventuring. You could get killed...

"All right, that's the healing potions," Argo noted.

"Check the NPC armor and equipment shops. We've bought all the current gear, but something may have unlocked," Liz suggested optimistically.

"That's doubtful," Argo said with a sigh but they checked the shops anyway. No, there was nothing new added.

The three ended up back at the inn, and grabbed a table in the common room. They ordered food, then sat down and ate. It still annoyed Asuna that the game made you spend money on food... trapping them here was bad enough. But making them spend money on food, when they could be saving up for better equipment? Ugh.

"You like baths though," Liz teased, having heard Asuna's food rant more than once.

"Oh shut up," Asuna blushed.

Argo looked profoundly amused, but didn't add anything to that.

"We've all hit level fourteen," Argo said somewhat more seriously, "and we're not gaining much experience any more, even from killing powerful monsters on this floor. I think we've hit the level cap for this floor."

As Argo was their gaming expert, they all nodded. Plus she was a beta tester, though that wasn't something they brought up in public. The backlash against suspected beta testers had been building even before the level boss battle, and afterwards it had gotten worse. Asuna had even heard rumors of player killing, though she hoped those were false...

"We need to get people organized and make another attempt at the floor boss," Asuna said grimly, "or we'll never get out of here."

"A lot of folks have just given up," Argo noted. "They assume we'll never finish the game anyway, so why risk our lives?"

"The problem is, just staying in the game puts our lives at risk too," Asuna pointed out.

"Huh?" Liz blinked.

Asuna fiddled with her drink. "Out in the real world, we're functionally in comas," she explained, "but there's only so long we can stay like that. Eventually medical issues set in, even if you have the best care. And we don't know how long we have until that happens."

Liz looked blankly at her a moment. "Well, shit," she blinked.

"Crap," Argo agreed, then looked at Asuna. "How do you...?"

"My father's company is involved in medical technology," Asuna said vaguely.

"So basically... even if we just camp out on the first floor, we're still screwed?" Liz summarized.

"Exactly," Asuna agreed.

"Well, that should get some of the quitters off their asses," Argo mused. "We need a way to get the word out too. Especially in the Town of Beginnings."

"I'm sure you have a plan, information broker?" Asuna teased.

Argo grinned back, "Oh, I have some ideas, yes..."

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The updated 'Argo Guide' appeared in the NPC shops for free a few days later, titled 'Emergency Medical Update.' They also managed to track down a MD to explain what would happen and why. He also estimated they had about three years, though that might be on the high side.

They spread the word in the Town of Beginnings via old fashioned posters on walls, though there was also a crude 'newspaper' starting up too. Thinker and Yulier, two partners, were running it along with trying to drum up support for another run at the level boss.

They announced a meeting in Tolbana in two days, ironically in the same theater that the first meeting Diabel organized was. They contacted Agil and got his word he was coming, and they put out the word to as many top players they knew. HOPEFULLY there would be a good turnout.

After they ran around preparing, they ended up back at the inn. "Argo, can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?" Asuna asked.

"Right," Argo nodded. "She turned to Liz, "If I scream 'Rape!' come save me."

"Will do!" Liz thumbed up.

"You two..." Asuna groaned as Argo just laughed.

Argo and Asuna went into the room they had rented, while Liz stayed down in the common room. "You want me to go into the boss chamber with the raid," Argo guessed.

"Figured you'd realize that," Asuna admitted.

"I'm NOT a combat build," Argo said flatly. "Why?"

"I need you brains," Asuna admitted. "We have no idea of Ilfang's new attack patterns or abilities with a katana. But you've seen the levels where katanas were used and can hopefully tell us."

Argo closed her eyes, her expression pained. "I wish Kirito-Boya was here. He made it all the way to the tenth floor and fought katana users...," she sighed.

Asuna reached out and squeezed her shoulder, "Me too."

Argo puffed out a breath, "I'll come along, but you realize a lot of players are not going to want to hear anything I say?"

"I trust you," Asuna said seriously, "and they WILL listen, or they'll answer to me."

To be continued...

Notes: So, I'm dumping Asuna into a leadership role a lot earlier than in canon. Which I think makes some sense, with the original leaders all dying. I'm going to bring in canon characters in general much earlier, as well as other changes.


	3. Chapter 3

Sword Apocalypse Online

Chapter Two

Yuuki Konno and her sister Aiko were watching the amusingly named Asuna Yuuki leading the meeting to take on the dungeon. The crowd of men and woman had come together in the afternoon sun to discuss the upcoming raid...

"You should TOTALLY marry her," the taller Aiko teased her little sister mercilessly, "then you'd be Yuuki Yuuki."

"SHUT UP," Yuuki hissed.

Aiko just chuckled wickedly.

Though if Yuuki was going to be honest, 'Lightning' Asuna was very striking, with her long strawberry blond hair and attractive figure. Plus she was quite charismatic too. If you had said a week ago that someone would rally the surviving lead players to attack the dungeon AGAIN, Yuuki would have said you were nuts. But here they were.

"Argo will be going in with us to offer any insights on the Kobold Lord's attacks. We think counters are possible," Asuna continued.

"It's Argo's fault things went wring last time!" a heckler called from the back, apparently feeling safely anonymous.

"No, it's that bastard Kayabas' fault. All Argo is responsible for is being unable to read his mind in advance," Aiko called firmly.

The crowd parted to reveal the warrior, whom looked visibly wilted.

"We'll go in tomorrow morning," Asuna added. "Please form up in squads of six, and we'll meet at the enterance."

"Come on," Aiko softly ordered her sister as they both hurried after Asuna once the meeting officially ended.

"Hey, what...," Yuuki complained.

"Miss Asuna!" Aiko called as she reached the small group.

"Yes?" Asuna asked as Argo and Liz looked on.

"We'd like to join your party for when we take on the dungeon boss," Aiko said briskly. "I'm Aiko, this is my sister Yuuki."

"Why would you want to...?" Liz started.

"Because all the other player groups are made up of just men and it'd get creepy." Aiko observed briskly.

"She's got a point," Argo noted.

As the other girls talked, Asuna looked over Yuuki. She was a bit shorter than Asuna, with an almost purple black cape of long hair. Like everyone she was decked out in basic armor, but in her case also died black.

"Well?" Liz addressed Asuna.

Asuna pulled her gaze away and nodded. "Sure. Why not," she agreed.

"You've sisters in real life too? How did you both end up here?" Liz asked as they walked back to the Inn.

"We're both really into gaming and got lucky," Aiko noted wryly.

"REALLY lucky," Yuuki added, laughing softly.

"If it helps, I just randomly tried on my brother's system...," Asuna observed.

Liz and Argo had both heard the story before, but both Aiko and Yuuki looked surprised. "You weren't even a gamer before all this?" Aiko blinked.

"Yeah. Luckily I met Argo and some others," Asuna waved it off.

Realizing Asuna was uncomfortable Argo changed the subject. "Were you guys brought in from the Aincrad Army group Thinker is trying to set up?" she asked.

"He and Yulier tried recruiting us," Yuuki nodded. "I think their hearts are in the right place, but I don't know if their 'share everything' idea is practical."

The group reached the Inn and headed inside.

"Welcome!" the NPC Inn Keeper said. "Would you care to renew your room rental?" he asked them mechanically.

"You're here too?" Liz asked, looking at Aiko and Yuuki.

"We have a room, but I think we'll do a few hours of materials farming. I'd like to try upgrading our weapons again before tomorrow," Aiko mused.

"Materials farming. Do we need to do the damn bees again?" Yuuki sighed.

"Hey, YOU picked the rapier," Aiko reminded her.

Asuna exchanged glances with the others. "Doing it as a group might be faster," she observed.

"Yeah, I'll help," Liz agreed. "But I can do the upgrade, okay?"

"Yeah, what the hell," Argo said.

"Thank you," a visibly surprised Yuuki beamed up at Asuna.

Weirdly, Asuna blushed.

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

They trooped in together a few hours later. They had fought mobs in several local areas to get the materials, then Liz had finished upgrading the weapons along with repairing everyone's gear.

"Nicely done," Aiko clapped her on the shoulder.

' "Lucky. I've flubbed upgrading once or twice before. It's as much probabilities as skill," Liz noted dryly. "I just hope it never REALLY goes bad on us."

"Agreed," Aiko nodded.

Argo was still mildly bewildered by her apparently being a user of a massive claymore. The sword was nearly as big as SHE was. But she had put her 'skill' points into physical strength, and could weild it like a pro. And with her health, she was a pretty good tank too.

Yuuki used a slim longsword, and was a speed/strength build, basically. She wasn't as fast as Asuna could be, but she was damn fast. Plus, she seemed to have slightly better reflexes than Asuna, which made up for the slight speed difference.

"We should rest up for tomorrow," Asuna noted as they checked in to the inn.

"There is a complication, ma'am," the inn-keeper noted to them politely. "There is only one open room remaining."

"WHAT," Argo blinked.

"We forgot to re-book our room earlier," Yuuki noted, blinking. "Shit."

Argo looked at Asuna, their de-facto leader. You couldn't really just camp out on the streets, it wasn't safe...

Asuna nodded briskly. "We'll split the room," she decided.

"And the harem grows AGAIN," Liz deadpanned.

"Harem?" Aiko asked, amused.

Argo noted, "Clearly the great Asuna-sama MUST have a harem."

"Oh, yes, Asuna-sama! Take me!" Yuuki joked, grabbing her arm.

Several passing adventurers watched, wide eyed.

"Could we JUST go up to the room, please?" Asuna groaned.

Argo snickered softly as they all headed upstairs. "It's a two bedroom suite, right?" she asked Asuna mildly.

"Yeah. We can just split up the bedrooms," Asuna agreed. "And I think there's a couch too."

They quickly confirmed there was indeed two single beds, and a couch. "Okay!" Aiko decided briskly, "Liz and Argo take one bed, Asuna and Yuuki get the other, I'll take the couch."

"Right," Argo agreed.

"WHAT." Asuna started.

"We'll see you in the morning!" Liz added as she and Argo went into one bedroom. At the same time, Aiko calmly set up on the couch.

"But..." Asuna started.

Yuuki gave her a sympathetic look. "I think we're stuck," she noted.

The bed was a single. Worse, it was a relatively SMALL single. "I suppose I can just take the floor," Asuna mused.

"It's fine, really," Yuuki reassured her.

"Uh huh," Asuna said dubiously.

They DID in fact get both of them onto the small bed. Asuna was faintly surprised at how fast Yuuki fell asleep. She was ALSO surprised at how a sleepy Yuuki ended up clinging to her like a baby koala to her momma.

Morning came, and Asuna was surprised she slept reasonably well. Yuuki, annoyingly was STILL curled up against her. "Ytuuki," she tried to get free. "YUUKI," she growled.

"Don wanna get up..." Yuuki groaned sleepily then rolled over on to Asuna.

'EEEP,' Asuna 'eeped' softly.

To be continued...

Notes: Slightly more comic chapter. Also, bringing in Aiko and Yuuki from later in SAO.


	4. Chapter 4

Sword Apocalypse Online

Chapter Three

There was a frightening screech as Ilfang the Hobold Lord's katana was blocked by the huge claymore.

"Holy shit," Agil managed, the huge fighter looking on in awe.

"Oh wow that's tough," Aiko yelped, angling her huge sword JUST right to deflect the blade, the sound of metal grinding on metal filling the room.

As they had discussed the attack squads rushed in between the massive swings, and the final health bar declined.

"He'll do a random, unpredictable attack once his health bar is that low!" Argo yelled out a warning, "We need to finish him off before then!"

Almost at exactly the same time two figures burst from the group, racing toward the kobold just as he was readying another swing. Asuna's strawberry blond hair glowed as she raced along, and beside her Yuuki was readying her own strike.

"LINEAR!" Yuuki yelled as both women's blades struck. The final life point disappeared, and everyone waited to see if there were more surprises.

"You got the last attack." an automated voice noted to BOTH Asuna and Yuuki.

LEVEL CLEARED appeared in the air above them all, and there was a huge sigh of relief.

A massive cheer rattled the chamber as the six squads celebrated, all of them recieving experience, gold and random items from the raid. At the same time, many of them slumped, exhausted after the long, intense battle.

"Ugh. I don't wanna move," Yuuki groaned as she and Asuna both collapsed.

"Me too," Asuna agreed.

"Nicely done," Liz complimented Aiko, the two and Argo walking towards where their fearless leaders had collapsed.

"Agreed," Argo nodded as she added, "I knew the parry could be done in theory, but actually pulling it off? Incredible."

"In theory?" Aiko blinked in surprise. "Thanks for telling me about that NOW," she said, punching Argo in the shoulder.

"Well, telling you that earlier probably wouldn't have helped," Liz said.

"Point..." Aiko conceded as they reached Asuna and Yuuki. "Hail the conquoring heroes!" she teased them.

"Big sis..." Yuuki groaned.

"Congrats," Liz added as she helped Asuna up.

"Everyone all right?" Argo asked, still nervous that this was all too good to be true.

"I think we actually pulled this off with no losses," Yuuki agreed.

"I saw you both got the last hit," Aiko noted, "get any interesting drops?"

Yuuki checked her inventory, noting she had gotten a share of the loot for clearing the level. "Nope," she said.

"Looks like it randomly dropped in my inventory," Asuna looked, "yea, not my thing." She moved it out of her inventory, "Yuuki, you have it."

"Oooh." Yuuki murmured, "Coat of Midnight. Yes, I likey." The long coat materialized over her, the black garb hanging slightly past her knees.

"Nice!" Argo agreed.

Agil, the tall, buff leader of the tanks, moseyed up to them. Apologetically he said, "The other squads are all busy trading drops they got from the Ruin Kobolds and shares of the Level Prize. Do you think you could go open the gate to the next level?"

"It DOES open automatically," Argo noted.

Liz added eagerly, "But it would give us first shot at stuff on the next level."

"Yeah, yeah," Asuna conceded.

"Can we tag along?" Aiko jumped in. "I like hanging with you guys."

"Yeah," Yuuki agreed. "Plus guys keep asking us to join their parties..."

Asuna smiled as she said, "Okay, okay, we'll go." She addressed Liz and Argo, "You okay with the sisters going with us?"

"Sure why not?" Liz agreed.

"More for the harem!" Argo added.

"Oooh," a nearby player jerked in surprise.

"Stop that!" Asuna scolded, blushing.

The group of five women left the chamber, heading up the spiral staircase to the next level, Asuna in the lead. "What can we expect next level?" she asked Argo as they climbed.

"Meas and rocky terrain. I think they researched Texas and Arizona," Argo noted wryly.

"Which reminds me... are you going to start doing Argo guides again?" Liz asked.

Argo gave her a LOOK. "Considering what happened with Ilfang, is that really a good idea?" she asked dryly.

"Most of us new players find them really helpful," Yuuki noted mildly.

"Agreed," Aiko added.

Asuna decided not to get into it. They reached a door, decorated with a bull's horns, oddly. She pushed it open, and the team emerged into sunlight.

"Oooh," all of them made a soft sound of surprise.

The doorway opened out to a sheer cliff, a stairway cared into the side going down. Unlike the varied terrain of the first floor, this one was a series of rocky mesas from one end to another. The upper parts of the mountains were covered with grass, making up grazing lands for the huge cattle monsters that populated the floor.

"Okay, enough gawking," Argo reminded them, "we need to get to get going to the capital, Urbus before the level's monsters go active."

"You have no poetry in your soul," Aiko complained mildly.

They headed down the stairs, then went the half mile to the town. Thankfully, nothing jumped them on the way. "So if we did SOMEHOW get killed, the gate would still open?" Aiko asked.

"In about two hours after we cleared the level," Argo nodded.

"People in the Town of Beginnings have probably heard we were taking on the Boss," Yuuki noted, "we shouldn't keep them waiting."

They entered the south gate, blinking as even the background music changed to something like a wistful oboe. Liz stopped them as she suggested, "Before we trigger the gate, let's hit the weapons and armor shops for upgrades."

"There IS going to be a rush on them, once the gate opens," Aiko offered reasonably.

"I occasionally forget some of you were hard core gamers before starting Sword Art Online," Asuna noted, but gave in.

They did in fact get some upgraded armor. However, there were no better weapons than their current gear, mostly due to their obsessive grinding and upgrading before fighting Ilfang.

"Go on," Yuuki gestured Asuna forward to the shimmering, still closed gateway hanging in air in the middle of town.

"Why ME?" Asuna asked.

"Someone has to," Liz pushed her.

Asuna's hand brushed the rippling surface of the fate, triggering it. She yelped as it suddenly blazed with a unearthly light.

"Better get back," Argo warned everyone.

Just then a steady stream of people raced through the opening. "Second floor! Whoo!" a random guy yelled.

"We made it!" another yelled.

"You guys ROCK!" a random girl glomped Aiko.

The group watched as the constant steam of people continued by, faintly bemused by the joyous crowd. Considering how down everyone had been when the first floor raid failed, it was all very heartening to see.

Finally, the five of them moved off together. "Okay, Argo...," Asuna asked her, "where should we start?"

To be continued...

Notes: Because of Argo already joining the party, I'll probably skip right over the 'How did she get the Whiskers' storyline. I'm also not sure if I'll do the blacksmith fraud story from the early Progressive books. Also a some point I need to have Yuuki and Aiko tell Asuna and the others about their medical issues...


	5. Chapter 5

Note: I changed my mind about covering 'Argo's Whiskers.'

Sword Apocalypse Online

Chapter Four

The two ninjas charged after Argo, only to come up short when confronted by Asuna, Aiko, Liz and Yuuki. "You don't have to..." Argo started.

"She's our comrade," Asuna said coolly as she put her hand on her sword, "you want her, you go through us."

"Damn right," Liz agreed.

"We, the Fuma Ninja Clan, want the rumored Martial Arts skill to complete our ninja roleplay!" the first man said.

"Martial Arts?" Yuuki murmured.

"Ninja clan?" her sister Aiko added wryly.

"Look," Argo said, "the reason I never released the information was that the Quest can't be completed. That's how I ended up stuck with rat whiskers!"

The other ninja blinked. "So if you fail the Quest, you get the whiskers painted on?" he asked.

"Or worse. I never saw anyone else get painted," Argo explained. "And you get the whiskers painted on, THEN have to try to finish it."

The two ninja kind of looked at each other. "We will consider this and contact you later," they agreed, then bounded off.

"Well, THAT was a thing," Aiko muttered.

"So you discovered the quest, tried it and couldn't clear it?" Asuna asked a little while later.

"Yeah. That's how I got my whiskers for the whole SAO beta test," Argo admitted.

"That had to suck," Liz agreed.

"And to get the skill you had to smash the boulder," Asuna looked thoughtful. "Did you have to smash it yourself?"

"Huh?" Argo blinked.

"I mean, there's all those bull monsters on this level," Asuna continued reasonably, "couldn't you just bait one into smashing the rock for you?"

Argo looked at her blankly a moment. "I hadn't thought of that," Argo admitted.

 **(They all ended up completing the Quest and getting Martial Arts.)**

"Should we tell the Fuma ninja?" Yuuki asked later.

"Ehhh. They were kind of a pain in the beta test," Argo revealed, "they'd bounce around, agitate the monsters, but when things got really serious they'd bolt."

"Toss it into the next Argo guide," Aiko suggested mildly.

Asuna frowned at her, as they all knew Argo was still undecided about continuing the guides. "All right,"she said briskly, "Argo said there are materials we can hunt to upgrade my rapier and Yuuki's sword, right?"

"Windwasps stingers, yeah." Liz agreed. "It's going to be a pain..."

"Well, let's go," Argo nodded.

It took over an hour for the four to harvest two hundred stingers for Asuna and Yuuki. The wasps were actually pretty weak, but it was very unnerving to have a giant bug flying at you. But the women managed, then provided the stuff to Liz.

"Success!" Liz declared as she passed the boosted weapons over. "We've filled both weapons upgrade slots, now," she added.

Asuna nodded. All weapons had a limited number off upgrade slots, though how many depended on the weapon and how well it was made. Using harvested materials (rare metals etc etc) a blacksmith like Liz could upgrade them, though there was always a chance of failure.

"Are there any special places we could get better weapons here?" Aiko asked Argo as they headed to another hunting area.

"Other than lucky weapons drops from monsters, no," Argo admitted. "Third floor has more quests for our group's weapons."

"Well, we'll manage with what we've got," Yuuki nodded.

"Ok. Now we need to farm supplies to upgrade Aiko's claymore and Liz' mace." Asuna said briskly. "Let's try to get it done by nightfall."

Bells were ringing, announcing the coming night as the group reached the level's main town, Urbus. All of them were panting and tired, straggling in through the main gate.

"I never want to be in a stampeded again," Argo groaned.

"Well, you did try to warn us," Aiko sighed.

They had been hunting a type of cow with steel hooves, which you could collect for heavy weapon upgrades. You also didn't need to collect as many hooves, as they were more massive. So they set out to an area they were known to appear and went hunting.

At first it went well. They bagged enough cows to upgrade both weapons. They decided on getting a few more just to be safe... and stumbled on a full herd, over 30 cows grazing.

The cows looked at them.

They looked at the cows.

Something triggered the cows aggression. They glared at them ominously.

"Run away!"

They managed to escape the stampede, but just barely. And so, they were back...

"Do you think they could have trampled us to death?" Yuuki asked, shaking her head.

"Probably," Argo sighed.

"That would be a really stupid way to die," Yuuki groaned.

"Let's check in at an inn," Asuna said, "it's been a long day."

"Bet you she wants a bath," Liz murmured to Argo.

"I don't take sucker bets," Argo answered.

"Huh?" Yuuki blinked.

"GODS I want a bath," Asuna added, then blinked as Liz and Argo giggled.

The NPC running the inn told them there was only two rooms left. They paid, and Liz, Argo and Asuna took one, Yuuki and Aiko took the other.

"Does the inn have bathing facilities?" Asuna had to ask.

"No, we do not," the NPC admitted. "There is a public bath though."

Asuna beamed, "THANK you!"

The group checked in, then headed out to get some food then hit the baths.

"So.. you like baths?" Aiko teased.

"I'm Japanese. We ALL like baths," Asuna replied mildly.

"Point...," Aiko agreed.

There were a LOT of steak houses in Urbus. Not surprising as it was the 'cow' themed floor, but it would have been nice to have some variety. They went into one, ordered, then ate at one large table.

"So is this technically the same cows that tried to stomp us?" Yuuki asked, pointing at her steak.

"Technically, yes," Argo agreed.

Yuuki visciously stabbed her meat, then cut a bit. "That's what you get for nearly trampling us!" she growled, then ate.

Asuna grinned, then cut into her own steak. "Hmm," she sighed.

Liz ate with surprising enthusiasm, while Argo and Aiko ate more gradually. They discussed the near miss with the cows as well as planning out the next few days.

"I've decided to do the Argo Guides still," Argo admitted, "but I want to re-check things against the beta," She added, "Would you mind coming along...?"

"Sure!" Liz agreed, Asuna nodding agreement.

"First shot at some of the quests? Certainly!" Aiko added.

"Big sis," Yuuki scolded mildly.

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Ahhh," Asuna sighed as she soaked in the hot water.

Liz splashed water at her, "Don't fall sleep."

Argo was sitting nearby, and Yuuki and her sister was across from her. Asuna was a bit jealous of how well Aiko was developed, though she supposed it made sense. She was a bit older, after all.

"This IS nice," Aiko agreed, laying back a bit. Her breasts floated a bit in the water, and Asuna firmly stomped on her jealousy.

"Oooh, look at those!" Liz laughed, then gave the other girl's breasts a squeeze.

"Aaah!" Aiko gasped.

"Hey!" Yuuki growled, pushing Liz away.

'And I just wanted to bathe in peace...,' Asuna sighed.

To be continued...

Notes: I always wondered why Argo didn't just tel the Ninjas the quest couldn't be completed. I mean, that would have solved it... Also, luring a bull to smash the rock is how manga Asuna solves the problem in the Progressive series.


End file.
